Glass-engraving machine



Aug. 29, `1939.v E, RlCE 2,171,007

GLASS-ENQRAVING MACHINE Filed April 5, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet l Aung. 29,1939. E., RlcE 2,171,007

GLASS-ENGRAVING MACHINE Filed April 5, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 29, 1939. 1 E. RICE 2,171,007

GLASS -ENGRAVING MACHINE Filed April 5, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 29, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to the class of engraving and pertains particularly to improvements in mechanism for engraving glassware.

The present invention has for its primary object to provide a novel mechanism whereby a plurality of glass articles may be engraved simultaneously by one engraver, thereby making it possible for the one engraver to perform a plurality of engraving operations which heretofore required the attention of a number of individual engravers.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a plurality of supporting units for articles to be engraved with a novel coupling means between the units whereby the manipulation of one of the articles with respect to an engraving wheel will effect the application of each of the other articles to adjacent engraving Wheels, in such a manner that all of the articles may be simultaneously engraved with duplicate patterns.

Still another object of the invention is to provide in association with a plurality of individually driven engraving wheels, a novelly constructed battery of article supporting units each for yas- 26 sociation with an engraving wheel and coupled together whereby any movement given to an article carried by one unit with respect to the adjacent engraving wheel will be imparted to each of the other articles with respect to their respective engraving wheels so that duplicate patterns may be cut on the several articles, the article supporting means associated with each unit being of a character to facilitate moving the engraved varticle in any manner necessary to facilitate the application of the engraved pattern thereto.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity with the showing cf the drawings but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient pended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a View illustrating a group of the f connected units embodying the present invention by which the objects described are attained, each of the units of the group being shown in associafeatures of the invention as expressed 'in the ap- Figure 1, this view being a section taken substan tially upon the line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view in plan of an article supporting disk.

Figure 4 is a view in elevation of a detail of the structure.

Figure 5 is a view substantially in top plan of the supporting elements for the several units of the battery shown in Figure 1, shown in association with the engraving wheels and the driving pulleys therefor.

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is shown a number of engraving wheels, each of which is indicated by the numeral I, and each being supported upon a shaft 2 which carries a stepped cone pulley 3 by which a desired speed of rotation may be applied to the disk by means of a driving mechanism suitable for use in association with machines of this character, such mechanism not being shown. These engraving Wheels are supported upon frames 4, and in the engraving art are usually arranged substantially 'in the order shown in Figure 5, and each is supplied with a suitable means for rotating iteach wheel being attended by an engraver who applies the object to be engraved to the periphery of the engraving wheel in order to cut the desired design therein.

In carrying out the present invention whereby the need for an individual engraver for each wheel I is eliminated, the several engraving wheel supporting frames 4 are provided at one side with bearings 5 through which extend a shaft 6. These bearings 5 are of a suitable design to permit the shaft to be rotated therein or to be moved longitudinally therethrough for the purpose hereinafter more specifically pointed out.

Mounted upon the shaft 6 and substantially in line with each of the engraving wheels I is an arm 'I on which is slidably supported the tubular extension 8, the connection between Vthe arm and its extension being maintained rigid by means of a set screw 9 or in any other suitable manner which would facilitate longitudinally adjusting the extension 8 so as to increase or decrease the effective length of the arm. These extensions 8 are here shown as being in the form of tubes or pipes and they are connected together so as to be shifted as a unit with the shaft 6 by the connecting rail I0, which extends parallel with the shaft 6 and is coupled with each of the extensions 8 by means of a U-bolt I I or in any other suitable manner.

Upon one or more of the frames 4, as may be found desirable, is mounted a resilient holding unit for the extensible arms 1, this unit being generally designated by the numeral l2, and comprising the telescopically joined tubular and solid sections I3 and I4 respectively, the tubular section of the unit I2 being secured to an end of a pivot pin I5 which is oscillatably mounted in the adjacent frame 4. The outer end of the longitudinally extensible portion i4 of the unit I2 is pivotally coupled by means of the pin I6 and ear |'I with the rail I0, as shown in Figure 2, and Within the tubular portion I3 of the holding unit is a coil spring I8 which normally tends to force the portion I4 outwardly to a desired position for the arms 'I and rail I0 and the hereinafter described structures carried by the arms.

As shown in Figure 2, the longitudinally adjustable arms 'I are inclined from the shaft `Ei toward the adjacent engraving wheels I and the free end of each of these arms is secured in the wall I9 of an elongated gear housing, which is indicated generally by the numeral 28. Each of these gear housings is mounted upon its supporting armwith its longitudinal axis' perpendicu lar to the arm and extending parallel with the plane of the cutting edge of the adjacent disk or engraving wheel I and extending longitudinally through each housing 20 is a shaft 2|, the upper end of which has a suitable thrust bearing in the adjacent end wall of the housing, the bearingV here shown consisting of a bearing point 22 formed on the end of the Vshaft and engaging in a tapered seat 23 in the adjacent housing wall. The other end of Vthe shaft 2| extends through the end of the housing nearest the engraving wheel and terminates in a universal coupling, which is generally designated by the numeral 24, and which comprises the usual two pivot pins 25 and 26 which join together the two parts of the coupling. One of these parts of the coupling is formed integral with the shaft 2|, while the other part which is free and is indicated by the numeral 21, is attached to the supporting means for the object to be engraved, as is hereinafter pointed,

out.

housing associated therewith so that for any number of engraving wheels in use, there will be. a corresponding number of gear housings and, as

shown in Figure 1, these gear housings are 29. Thus, within each gear housing will be two of the bevel gears 29 disposed upon opposite sides oi the housing enclosed shaft 2| and these two gears which are in facing relation are connected together by a bevel gear 3D, which is carried bythe Y housing enclosed shaft 2| and, as will be noted` in Figure 1, alternate ones of the coupling gearsVA 30 are arranged to face oppositely to the others. The movable portion 2I of each universal coupling 24 has secured thereto an article carrying disk 3|, the connection being made at the. center of the disk and each disk is provided with the four radial slots 32 Vto facilitate the attachment to the face of each disk of apair of brackets, one of which is indicated by the numeral 33, while the otherris indicated by the numeral 34. The bracket 33 is provided with a A thumb screw 35 which is pivotally attached to a `plate 36, while the bracket 34 carries ashort Each ofthe engraving Wheels I has a gearY shaft 31 which, upon the inner side of the bracket, connects with a plate 38, while upon the outer side of the bracket it carries a gear 39. This gear i'rieshes with an adjacent gear 40 which is also carried by the bracket 38 and which is operatively coupled with the flexible shaft 4|, the other end of which is connected with a bevel gear 42 which is rotatably supported upon the adjacent gear housing 2U, as illustrated.

Extending longitudinally of the series of gear housings is the shaft 43 which is supported upon the housings and which carries a series of bevel gears 44 each of which meshes with a bevel gear 42 which is associated with a carrier for an article to be engraved.

Extending from the rear end of each housing 2B is an arm 45 which supports a horizontal bar 46 which is pivotally attached to the arm intermediate its ends so that, as shown in Figure 1, each end of the horizontal bar projects beyond a side of the adjacent housing. Each of these ends of the bar 46 is. slotted, as indicated at 4l, for the loose connection therewith of an end of a push rod 48, which is mounted in supporting guides 49 at the side of the housing and the for- Ward ends of these guides are in abutting relation with the rear face of the adjacent article supporting disk 3|, as shown in Figure l.

The arm 45 of each gear housing also has pivotally attached thereto a vertical bar, which is indicated by the numeral 58, each of these vertical barsbeing connected intermediate its ends and having its ends extending above and below the adjacent gear housing and provided with the longitudinal slots 5| for loose connection with the ends of the upper and lower push rods 52. These upper and lower push rods associated with each gear housing are slidably supported in suitable guides 53 upon the top and bottom walls of the adjacent housings and have their forward ends in contact with the rear face of the adjacent article supporting disk 3|. It will thus be seen that each article supporting disk is contacted at four equi-distantly spaced points by an end of a push road andrthat diametrically opposite rods will be reciprocated upon oscillation of the article supporting disk 3| upon either the horizontal pivotal pin 25 of theV universal coupling or upon the vertical pivotal pin 26.

Extending longitudinally of the machine is a rockshaft 54 which passes through and is sup-` ported by the several arms 45 of the gear housings and this vrock Vshaft is secured toI each of the vertical bars 50 so that upon oscillation of any one'of these bars each of the other of the vertical bars willr beoscillated in the saine manner.

Disposed between each two adjacent gear housings and supported in any suitable manner as from the wall of one of the housings, is a bracket arm 55 which pivotally supports, as at 56 a rock link 51 which has each of its ends disposed across aside push rod 48, as shown in Figure l. connection betweenthe ends of the rock links and the adjacent push rods is of a sliding or loose character, as indicated at 58, so that upon longi tudinal movement Vof a side push rod, the rock link connected therewith may swing freely and may impari'l similar longitudinal movement to the other side push rod with which it is connected. In the use o f the present mechanism, the article to be engraved, such as the tumbler indicated by the numeral 59, is disposed in the manner shown between the plates or disks 36 and 38 which maybe referred to as clamping jaws. Each of the disks 3| has a tumbler mounted thereon in this The` manner and all of the tumblers are initally arranged to assume a vertical or a horizontal position according to the character of the design to be engraved thereon. When the tumblers or other articles are mounted upon the supporting disks in the manner described they will be in slightly spaced relation with the adjacent engraving wheels l, the entire apparatus being maintained by the holding units l2 so that when the engraver releases the one disk which he will work with, all of the tumblers or other articles Will be automatically moved away from the engraving wheels. After placing the articles in the manner described, one engraver may then manipulate one of the units of the machine by pulling that unit toward the engraving disk so as to bring the article into contact with the edge of the same. 'I'his will eifect the oscillation of the shaft 6 and thus bring all of the other articles into contact with their respective wheels. If, in forming the design, the engraver has to turn the article about an axis extending transversely thereof or, in other Words, upon the axis of the shaft 2|, it will be readily seen that throughthe medium of the gears 29 and 3B a similar turning movement will be imparted to each of the shafts of the other gear housings and by the alternate arrangement of the intermediate or connecting gears which is shown, the desired rotation will be given to each of the articles. If it is necessary for the engraver to rock the tumbler or other article on a horizontal axis or upon a vertical axis represented by the pivot pins 25 and 26 respectively, of the universal coupling 24, such rocking movements will be imparted from the one unit under the control of the engraver to each of the other units through the medium of the side push rods and. of the top and bottom push rods.

Rocking the article carrying disk on the hori- Zontal pivot 25 will a'ctuate the top and bottom push rods 52 and oscillation of the article carrying disk on the vertical pivot 26 will reciprocate the side push rods 48, as willbe readily apparent and it will be seen upon reference to Figure 1 that this reciprocatory movement of the side push rods will be transmitted from one pair of rods to the next pair through the medium of the interconnecting rock links l. When it is necessary for the engraver to turn the tumbler or other article on its own longitudinal axis, such turning movement will be permitted by the shaft 31 and the pivot screw 35 and this turning movement will be imparted to each of the other articles through the medium of the gears 39 and 40 and the flexible shafts M which connect these gears with the movement transmitting shaft 43 through the medium of the gears 4I and 42.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that with a machine of the character herein described, any number of articles may be simul-l taneously engraved with duplicate patterns by one engraver and thus, in addition to making the work of engraving such a large number of articles more economical, assurance is had that each and every one of the articles will be engraved with patterns exactly duplicating one another and there will not be variations in the patterns of a group of articles as would be the case if each of the articles was engraved by an individual engraver.

I claim:

l. A machine for simultaneously engraving duplicate patterns on a number of articles, comprising in association with a plurality of engraving wheels, an article supporting means adjacent each of said Wheels, each supporting means being mounted for turning movement coupling means between the article supporting means whereby all may be simultaneously moved relative to said engraving wheels, said article supporting means each being adapted for universal movement relative to the adjacent engraving wheels whereby it may be turned and may be oscillated on two perpendicularly related axes extending perpendicular to the axis of turning, and means connecting the said article supporting means which is so constructed and arranged that movement of one article supporting means on any of said axes will be transmitted to and duplicated in each of the other article supporting means.

2. A machine for simultaneously engraving duplicate patterns upon a plurality of articles, comprising in association with a plurality of engraving wheels, an article carrier adjacent each of said wheels, a rock shaft, means supporting each article carrier upon said rock shaft, said rock shaft when oscillated in one direction moving the article carriers as a unit toward the adjacent engraving Wheels, means connected with said rock shaft for normally urging the oscillation of the same in a direction to move the article carriers away from the engraving wheels, means facilitating the turning of said article carriers and the rocking of the same on axes perpendicular to the turning axis whereby desired designs maybe imparted to articles carried thereby by the adjacent engraving wheels, and connecting means between said article carriers whereby the said rocking and turning movements of any one article carrier will be duplicated in each of the other carriers.

3. A machine for simultaneously engraving duplicate patterns upon a plurality of articles, comprising in association with a plurality of engraving wheels, a rocking structure including a plurality of arms, a housing carried by each of said arms, there being an arm and housing for each engraving wheel, a shaft rockably supported in, each of said housings and extending therefrom toward the adjacent engraving wheel, an article carrier connected with the said extended end of each shaft and adapted to have rocking movement on perpendicularly related axes each of which is perpendicular to said shaft, means normally urging said rocking structure in a direction to move the article carriers away from the engraving wheels, means connecting said shafts together whereby rocking movement of one shaft will be imparted to each of the other shafts, and means so constructed and arranged that upon oscillation of one of said article carriers upon either of the said perpendicularly related axes a duplicated movement Will be imparted to each of the other article carriers.

4. A machine for simultaneously engraving a plurality of articles with duplicate patterns, comprising in association with a plurality of engraving Wheels, a rocking structure including a plurality of arms, there being an arm for each of said engraving wheels, a shaft oscillatably supported by each of said arms and disposed transversely thereof, an article supporting disk for each shaft, a universal coupling between each disk and the adjacent shaft, said disks being disposed between the shafts and the adjacent engraving Wheels and adapted to be moved toward. the wheels upon the oscillation of said unit in one direction, gear means connecting said shafts facilitating the simultaneous rotation of the shafts in one direction, a series of push rods associated with each disk, inter-connecting means between the series of rods of one disk and those of the other disks whereb-y concerted movement of the rods associated with the several disks may be obtained, and means connecting the several disks whereby the oscillation on parallel axes of articles supported by the disks, may be simultaneously effected.

5. A machine for simultaneously engraving a plurality of articles with duplicate patterns, comprising in association with a plurality of engraving wheels, an article carrier disposed adjacent each engraving wheel and including a pair of spaced bracket arms between which the article to be engraved may be mounted, means facilitating the rotation of the article between said bracket arms, means for transmitting the rotary motion of an article between one pair of bracket arms to each of the other articles of the machine, a supporting means common to said article carriers and facilitating the movement of the carriers simultaneously toward or away from said engraving wheels, means for rotating the article carriers, coupling means between said rotating means whereby rotation of all of the article carriers may be simultaneously effected, supporting means for the article carriers facilitating the oscillation of the articles in two perpendicularly related planes, and coupling means between the article carriers whereby the said oscillation of the carriers in the said twoplanes may be simultaneously effected.

6. A machine for simultaneously engraving duplicate patterns upon a plurality of articles, comprising in association with a plurality of engraving wheels, an article support adjacent each of said wheels consisting of two spaced relatively movable clamping members between which an article may be secured, one of said members including a rotary platform for engaging the said article and the other member including a pivotally mounted platform against which the -article engages, means coupling the rotary platforms of Vthe plurality of article supports whereby rotation of an article between the clamping members may be effected, supporting means for each of said article supports whereby the latter may be turned on an axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the article on the support, means facilitating the simultaneous turning of said last support means, a universal coupling between each of said article supports and the adjacent supporting means therefor permitting oscillation of the article support on two perpendicularly related axes which are perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the article support, means whereby oscillation of one of the article supports upon either of the two perpendicularly related axes will impart corresponding oscillation to each of the other article supports, and a carrier structure for the article supports and the supporting means therefor whereby articles carried by the supports may be moved relative to the adjacent engraving wheels.

LOUIS E. RICE. 

